What is the single most important element to homebrewing?

What is a primary ingredient in no-rinse sanitizer used for homebrewing?

Carbonic acid

Sulfuric acid

Phosphoric acid

The acid offers great sanitizing effectiveness but doesn't affect beer taste or quality.

Adding Irish moss to your wort during the last half hour of boiling does what?

Reduces haziness in the final product

Cuts down on the chances of bacterial contamination

Adds a more golden color

The moss is called a "fining" in brewing; other finings might be gelatin, activated carbon and copper sulfate, among others.

What product is measured by alpha-acid units (AAUs)?

Wort

Hops

Barley

It's also called Homebrew Bitterness Units, a way to control the seasoning of your beer.

The brewing-in-a-bag process was pioneered in which country?

Australia

Germany

China

The technique is very effective and can be used to make as much as 12 gallons of beer.

What helps develop the characteristic taste in so-called sour beers?

special hops

artificial flavors

bacteria

Bacteria can lend all sorts of delicious flavors, including a range of sourness.

In which states was homebrewing illegal until 2013?

Georgia and Florida

Mississippi and Alabama

Alabama and Georgia

Both states finally legalized homebrewing in 2013, bringing them up to speed with the rest of America.

What is wort?

A skin blemish caused by exposure to beer.

The liquid that results from yeast fermentation.

The liquid that is extracted from the mashing process.

Some of the sugars that result from mashing are fermentable; some are not.

Why don't home brewers use wine bottles for their beers?

Wine bottles aren't made for carbonated beverages.

It's harder to create secondary fermentation in larger bottles.

The volume per bottle is too high considering the limited amount of beer created by most homebrewing processes.

Some brewers will use champagne bottles, though.

Compared to other beers, the fermentation temperature for lagers tends to be what?

lower

higher

the same as most other beers

Lagering is basically cold storage, which ultimately results in a clearer beer.

Adding hops at the start of the wort boiling process adds what to the mixture?

bitterness

flavor

hop aroma

So if you want a really bitter beer, it all starts at the beginning.

In a homebrewing environment, what's the approximate maximum utilization of alpha acids in the finished beer?

about 80%

about 30%

about 50%

Knowing this, you'll be better able to calculate how bitter your beer will be.

In the homebrewing process, to what does lag time refer?

The delay between bottling and the time you can drink the beer.

The delay between pitching the yeast into the wort and the start of fermentation.

The delay as you wait for the yeast to consume most simple sugars.

Long lag time doesn't necessarily mean an unsuccessful batch, but the wait can be frustrating for any brewer.

After fermentation for a lager begins, it's usually safe to drop the temperature to about what?

60 degrees Fahrenheit

55 degrees Fahrenheit

45 degrees Fahrenheit

Much lower than that and you might stall the fermentation, which should take around two weeks.

Which molecular compound helps to produce fruity notes in a beer?

fusel alcohols

ketones

esters

Tweaking the various compounds can completely change the flavor of a beer.

How does a hydrometer assister brewers during the process?

determining completeness of fermentation

detect optimum pH of water for the wort

gauge bitterness

A lot of brewers don't bother to use one, relying instead on experience.

Which of the following is NOT a primary factor in achieving a robust fermentation?

temperature

hops quality

wort nutrients

The yeast quality is another major factor for good fermentation.

Beer that has been pasteurized or filtered will benefit from a bit of aging.

TRUE

FALSE

Beer only improves with age if the yeast is still active.

Yeast can grow with or without what?

sugar

oxygen

hops

This characteristic makes yeast unusual…and very useful.

If you want to add a buttery note to a beer such as a Scotch ale, what molecular compound will be especially important?

diacetyl

fatty acids

phenols

The instability of this particular chemical, though, can quickly cause a beer to taste bad as it ages.

What does lautering do?

Blanches grains for better flavor

Crushes grains for use in brewing

Rinses sugars from spent grain

A gentle spray of warm water is used for this simple process.

If you want a brilliant-looking lager, you must lager your brew for at least how long?

six days

six weeks

six months

That's the bare minimum, though; some brewers continue the lagering process for a year.

If your fermentation temperatures are too high, your brew might wind up with too much of what?

fusel alcohols

diacetyl

both

Too-high fermentation temperatures can cause all sorts of funky flavors to develop.

What temperature is generally considered too high for proper fermentation?

More than 75 degrees Fahrenheit

More than 65 degrees Fahrenheit

More than 85 degrees Fahrenheit

Once you break 75 degrees, your beer is likely to start tasting funny, and probably not in a good way.

homebrewing was basically illegal in the United States until what year?

1947

1962

1978

Thanks to President Jimmy Carter's signature, homebrewing immediately became a popular pastime.

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